obligate

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin obligātus, past participle of obligō. Doublet of oblige, taken through French.

Pronunciation

  • (US) (verb): enPR: äʹblĭgāt, IPA(key): /ˈɑblɪɡeɪt/
(adjective): enPR: äʹblĭgət, IPA(key): /ˈɑblɪɡət/
  • (UK) (verb): enPR: ôbʹlĭgāt, IPA(key): /ˈɒblɪɡeɪt/
(adjective): enPR: ôbʹlĭgət, IPA(key): /ˈɒblɪɡət/

Verb

obligate (third-person singular simple present obligates, present participle obligating, simple past and past participle obligated)

  1. (transitive, Canada, US, Scotland) To bind, compel, constrain, or oblige by a social, legal, or moral tie.
  2. (transitive, Canada, US, Scotland) To cause to be grateful or indebted; to oblige.
  3. (transitive, Canada, US, Scotland) To commit (money, for example) in order to fulfill an obligation.

Usage notes

In non-legal usage, almost exclusively used in the passive, in form “obligated to X” where ‘X’ is a verb infinitive or noun phrase, as in “obligated to pay”. Further, it is now only in standard use in American English and some dialects such as Scottish,[1] having disappeared from standard British English by the 20th century, being replaced by obliged (it was previously used in the 17th through 19th centuries).[2]

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

obligate (comparative more obligate, superlative most obligate)

  1. (biology) Able to exist or survive only in a particular environment or by assuming a particular role.
    an obligate parasite; an obligate anaerobe.
  2. Absolutely indispensable; essential.

Translations

References

  1. ↑ Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, p. 675
  2. ↑ The New Fowler’s Modern English Usage (1996)

German

Adjective

obligate

  1. inflected form of obligat

Latin

Participle

obligāte

  1. vocative masculine singular of obligātus
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